Between 4th & 5th, Memorial Ave, Asbury Park /
God In An Alcove /
Something new by Xliontamer
Be Alive Again /
Here’s my current painting. Not quite done. The skull looks a little non-human. I’m a gonna fix it. The idea here is this is a short series on the traditional style of painting called the Memento Mori. A painting which usually contains a skull and is meant to remind us to live life to the fullest because we all have to die. They fall into the still life category and typically contain images of skulls, bones, flowers, clocks, hour glasses, insects, fruit, and items which are fleeting, decay and may be personal to an individual. The Victoreans liked them, cuz, well…they were obsessed with death.
The scrawled phrase, "Come on be alive again'“, is from the song Malibu by Hole. I usually listen to music when I’m painting and I’m frequently inspired by music. Lyrics to modern pop music, well some of it, is the current form of poetry. The lyrics to Malibu are quite beautiful.
Nothing At All , Versions 2 & 3 together /
These two panels are really meant to be together. The left has the letters carved into the encaustic and the right has the letters raised above the surface.
Immerse /
In the last year, I’ve mostly been trying to hone my traditional painting skills. I never wanted to be a realist, however, there are elements of my recent paintings that I want to look more realistic or at least believable in the context of the painting. This requires more focus, the right brushes, paints, mediums, and a detailed drawing prior to even beginning painting. It’s a much more controlled way of painting. Yes, I can use more control in my work, but it’s also hard to repress my internal expressionist. Sometimes I just have to let him out of the box. The result is the image I’ve posted here of a painting entitled Immerse. Done in pastel and encaustic, it has a dreamy, quality, no sharp edges, straight lines or layers of glazing with a 0 size brush. Making this was like a huge exhale.
It already found a good home. Appropriately sold it to one of my swimmer friends, Kelly Owens , last week.
Skull with Carnation /
Finished this. Just pumped up the color in the skull and the carnation. Carnations aren’t easy to paint because they are so ragged.
Aug. 7, 2019. Skull with Carnation /
Just about finished with this small piece (11 x 14). Needed to do something with a simple composition after working for days on the paintings in my show at the Monmouth Beach Cultural Center. The exhibit is a two person show with my brother, Jerry, as the other half. Happy to exhibit with Jerry. We have worked independently as artists for a long time and never really did something like this before…. well, there were a few shows with my punk rock band where Jerry sat in as the drummer, but that was like a century ago. The show runs from Aug. 4th to Sept. 4th.
The painting here is entitled Skull with Carnation for obvious reasons. It is a straight up memento mori.
